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Dottoré!

The Way To A Doctor’s Heart

Our Neapolitan psychiatrist ponders the meaning of professional recognition, and lasagna.

Photo of a hand holding a fork with a portion of lasagna

“Dottoré, I’ve made you something!”

Mariateresa Fichele

Money, awards, recognition, promotions — those don’t mean a thing to me.

The real reward for me comes when patients cook.

This lasagna that Francesco’s just brought me: He made it without ricotta cheese, because he remembered that I don’t like it.

As he steps in, I barely have time to register the delicious smell before I hear him exclaim: “Dottoré, I’ve made you something!”

This fills my heart with joy — before it fills my belly. That’s when I realize that, as a psychiatrist, I must be doing something right.

____________________________

Learn more about Worldcrunch's exclusive Dottoré! series here.

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Dottoré!

A Woman’s Work Is Never Done

... unless she's a famous influencer?

Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni wearing her viral Dior dress at the Sanremo Music Festival

Mariateresa Fichele

“In the morning I get up at 5:30 a.m. I clean the house, then I wake up the children at 7. I get them ready, make them breakfast, then at 7:30, we leave for school. At 8:30, I start work. I clean two offices, then at 11, I go to a lady's house to clean until 3.30 p.m.

At 4 p.m. I pick up the children. I take them home and help them with their homework. Three days a week, I take my youngest to a physiotherapist at 5.30 p.m. The other days, there’s my daughter's catechism classes and my other daughter’s gym lessons. By 7:30 p.m. it's dinner time, because at 8 p.m. I have to go clean offices when they close. Then by 10 p.m. I come back and put them to bed.

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Support Worldcrunch
We are grateful for reader support to continue our unique mission of delivering in English the best international journalism, regardless of language or geography. Click here to contribute whatever you can. Merci!
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